Not Normal
by fairylungs
Summary: They had seen the signs in Harry. And, now that they thought about it, they had seen the signs in Dudley too.
1. Chapter 1

The 25th of July dawned a bright and sunny day. Vernon Dursley woke to a quiet house, a quiet street, and a quiet neighbourhood, which was exactly how he liked it. He rolled over onto his back and scratched his fat, hairy stomach. With a yawn, he threw his feet over the side of the bed and sat up, feeling along for his slippers. He slipped his scaly feet inside and slid on a house coat before he left his large bedroom. As he padded along the hallway, he tried his best to tie up his house coat but couldn't make the ends of the rope reach. He walked downstairs, pausing on the last step to breath in the heavenly smell of sizzling bacon, frying eggs, and bubbling coffee. Walking into the kitchen, he looked around to make sure everything was in order. At the table, his wife sat as beautiful as always, reading the paper and pushing up her hair. His handsome son sat at the table, his eyes glued to the TV Vernon had set up in the kitchen just for him. His eyes fell on his ugly, repulsive, stupid nephew who was frying eggs. Deciding nothing could ruin this perfect day, he ignored the abomination of hair on his nephew's head and moved on to the table, sliding into a seat next to his darling wife. He wiggled this way and that, jumping up and down until he finally squeezed past the arm rests and planted his bottom on the seat.

"Good morning darling," his wife greeted him, handing him the paper and planting a slobbery kiss on top of his head. She looked over at their nephew, frowning. "Harry! Hurry up Harry! Where's our coffee?" she snapped. Turning back to her husband, she became all smiles and gooey-eyed again. Several of Vernon's colleagues hated when women treated them differently than everyone else. But Vernon loved it. If some lady would hang on to your every word, do as you say, and treat you like God, she was a keeper. And Petunia did that for him.

Harry, his nephew brought over the coffee and served them all bacon and eggs, knowing to give extra to Vernon. Vernon needed to have more than everyone else. He needed the newest and the best. If someone else were to have more bacon on their plate than Vernon, he would take it as a personal insult.

"Where's the mail boy?" Vernon asked angrily, raising his bushy unibrow. As Harry left the kitchen to get the mail, Vernon sighed and rolled his eyes. "I swear that boy is a retard. Something went wrong in that distorted womb of your sister," he muttered to Petunia. Harry returned quickly. He was, in a way, like Petunia. He followed orders and knew not to cross the line. But, unlike Petunia, Harry did it all out of spite and fear. It gave everything an ugly feeling that Vernon hated.

Harry walked around the kitchen, handing bills to Vernon and catalogues to Petunia. But suddenly, he stopped and Dudley cried out, "Harry's got a letter!" Vernon watched as Dudley snatched the letter out of Harry's hands and was chased around the kitchen by Harry.

"Enough!" Vernon cried out. He took the letter from Dudley's strong (otherwise known as fat) hands and turned it over. He read the return address, _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. _Paling, Vernon showed the letter to Petunia. She too paled and sweat broke out over her brow. They shared a knowing glance and Vernon shoved the letter into his pocket. "Well, that was a mistake," he explained, sitting back down and trying to act normally.

"No it wasn't! It had my name and bedroom on it!" Harry protested, stomping his foot.

"Shut up boy!" Vernon snapped. He paused as he saw Harry's frustrated fist crumple another white envelope. He took it out of his hand, beginning to uncrumple it from the messy ball it was in. "Look at you, trying to hide another let-" He stopped abruptly as he saw the address.

_Mr. D Dursley_

_The two big bedrooms upstairs_

_4 Privet Drive,_

_Little Whinging,_

_Surrey_

Petunia looked at it and froze, paralyzed from the shock. Vernon crumpled it back up and stuffed it into his pocket with the other letter. Harry and Dudley exchanged confused looks at Vernon's and Petunia's behavior.

"Petunia, I think you shrunk my house coat as it won't do up," Vernon said as he sat down. They tried their best to carry on a normal breakfast conversation, but their minds were elsewhere. How could they have been so ignorant and so scared to ignore a fact like this? They had seen all the signs in Harry. He had made things blow up, his hair had grown seven inches overnight. They had held onto the idea that their real son was normal. That they weren't completely crazy. There was still a normal child that they could put all their hopes and dreams into, which they could spoil and pamper. But, now that they thought about it, they had seen the signs in Dudley too. They had just chosen to ignore them, determined to have a normal child. But he was not a normal child.

They carried on like that, pretending everything was normal. But nothing was normal. Nothing would ever be normal again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning: This story will not be half amusing if you fail to read it with a British accent. **

Harry Potter, of Number 4 Privet Drive, knew very well that he was supposed to be in bed. He was well aware of the fact that if his uncle Vernon ever caught him sneaking around the house, eavesdropping on his conversations, and watching as he started a roaring fire, he would be in grave trouble. But Harry Potter also knew that something was very wrong. Ever since Vernon crumpled up the two letters and the shock registered on Petunia's horsey face, Harry had been jumping with curiosity. Dudley was too dumb to realize that anything was out of the ordinary. But Harry was not. He didn't think he was a genius but knew he had a sharp, keen eye for suspicious things. And this was most definitely suspicious.

So that was how Harry Potter came to find himself in his pajamas, his feet blue against the cold kitchen floor, peering around the door into the living room. He watched as Vernon fed more wood into the fire, building it up until it was roaring and crackling scarily. Harry was as quiet as a mouse, daring himself to remain unnoticed by Uncle Vernon.

"Those _freaks_ won't be tainting _my _house," Vernon mumbled to himself as he left the house by the back door, apparently in search of even more wood. Harry furrowed his eyebrows in confusion; curious as to whom Vernon was speaking about. There was no doubt in his mind that this all surrounded those two mysterious letters, the ones that had caused his aunt and uncle so much distress.

His heart pounding loudly in his ears, his breath so heavy that it fogged up his glasses, Harry took a shaky step out from behind the kitchen door and into the living room. He walked quickly and quietly up to the roaring fire, looking around the room. His vision was foggy with fear and adrenaline but he quickly spotted the two letters sitting on the coffee table. They were wrinkled and stained from their time spent in Vernon's house coat pocket but Harry could still make out the two different addresses neatly printed on the envelopes.

"Harry Potter," Harry read his own name first and then shuffled it behind the other letter, eager to see who else had received one of these mysterious letters. His eyes widened in disbelief as he read the name printed on the second wrinkled envelope. "Dudley Dursley?" Harry was even more confused. What could he and Dudley have in common? And why was it, whatever it was, a secret? Harry, itching to discover the secret that had haunted him all day, turned over the envelope and was just about to tear open the odd wax seal when he heard Vernon's heavy footsteps just outside the back door.

Harry dropped to the carpeted floor and slapped the envelopes back on the coffee table, crouching as low as he could. As quietly as possible, Harry crawled along the floor towards the kitchen, hiding himself behind the door just as Vernon came bursting into the house. Harry sat slumped against the door, his heart pounding and breathing heavily, as he listened to the sounds of Vernon burning the two letters and laughing gleefully.

**Later…**

Harry sat in the boat, squished against the sides by Hagrid's huge body. He felt as though he was in a dream, his mind unable to completely grasp the complexity of the news he had just been told. Wizards were something from storybooks and television. Even magicians were just masters of illusions, as he had learned at quite a young age. He had always been told that magic was not real. He was told magic was not real when he had used the word to explain how his hair had five inches overnight. He was told magic was not real when he had said magic was to blame for Dudley being stuck inside a snake's cage. All his life, he had been told it was not real. And suddenly, this hairy, tall, and somewhat stinky stranger was telling him that not only was magic real but that he himself, Harry Potter, the boy who lived under the stairs and had never even had his own clothes, could make magic.

It seemed quite mental when Harry thought of it like that. And yet, Harry felt as though he believed this man called Hagrid. And when Harry accepted the fact that he believed this man, this seed of excitement was planted in his heart. Harry had no idea what being a wizard meant but he assumed that it would be quite fantastic. He had seen Hagrid start a fire and give Dudley a pig's tail! If being a wizard meant that he could do magic like that, Harry thought he would quite enjoy it.

But beneath the ever-growing excitement, there was this nudging feeling that was rather uncomfortable. Harry kept remembering the night when he had seen the two letters. One had been addressed to him and Harry had finally read the letter. But, and this had bothered him since the moment he found the letters, the other had been addressed to none other than his cousin, Dudley. Harry didn't know if he was correct but he had the sinking feeling that he was.

Harry Potter was quite certain that that letter meant that his cousin, Dudley Dursley, was a wizard too.

**AN: I congratulate those of you who did read this in a British accent. I hope you will read all of my stories in a British accent. I have decided that I may or may not turn "Not Normal", what started out as a short one-shot, into a novel. This is the second chapter and there may be a third. But, don't keep your hopes up. I think that my writing on this website will be slowing down a lot. I apologise but I am busy with school, dance, other extra-curricular, and I am writing for another site. Thank you and I hope you'll review and share your thoughts on this story and whether or not you want me to continue. Kisses xoxo **


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